


First Flight

by HellionWolf



Series: A Different Flight Pattern [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, flying together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 07:03:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15658182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellionWolf/pseuds/HellionWolf
Summary: When Keith finds himself bored and on his own again, he finds himself caught up with someone from his past.





	First Flight

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1. Unbeta'd. All Errors are mine.

           In the weeks following Shiro’s address to the world, Keith found himself growing increasingly stir-crazy. Ordered to rest after all the fighting, the Black Paladin ran out of things to do. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were all understandably busy with their families. His own had other things to worry about, not that he minded. They of course visited and wished him well, but his mother was an important person now. Krolia and Kolivan led the Blades and their intel on the galran warlords was in high demand. The Garrison kept them occupied whenever they weren’t on a mission. Spare time was rare for both of them. Cosmo helped. Keith had wanted to wait on naming his teleporting wolf, but he didn’t seem to mind, so Cosmo it was.

            After his official discharge from the hospital, Keith relied heavily on Cosmo’s companionship. Realistically Keith _could_ reach out to the other paladin, his friends, but decided early on not to. He was admittedly out of practice with having a family, but he saw the appeal and no amount of personal loneliness would make him ask his friends to leave them. The free time allotted by this choice allowed them to explore the Garrison again. He noted a few new buildings and various new hangers for the updated planes. The closer he got to the hangers the more the idea of taking the Black Lion out appealed to him. A minor detour through the MFE hanger caused him to pause. The newest Garrison ships were being recharged and peeked his interest. With Cosmo at his side, Keith crossed over to the ship.

            Running his hand over the metal of the craft he studied it, smiling when he noticed a few similarities with Altean tech. The Garrison had done well for themselves, but Keith knew it was likely a lot of Commander Holt’s doing.

            “They fly like a dream,” Caught off guard by Keith sought out the voice with a quick glance around the hanger. Standing just a few feet away in his cadet uniform was James Griffin. A small smile present on his lips.

            “Yeah, they look pretty nice,” Keith replied as he awkwardly shifted his weight. There was still unresolved tension between them. Keith’s memory of his Garrison days was poor, but James had been a face he couldn’t forget. Having gotten in trouble with him also aided in cementing the memory.

            “Compared to you lion, scale from 1-10 with 10 as the best,” James had moved a little closer with his question. Keith watched him for a second before fumbling his reply.

            “Umm. 5 I guess. The lions are on a whole other level. It’s not really like normal flying,” James hummed in agreement.

            “Makes sense. Commander Holt said Voltron is something special. Not from his world,”

            “Not from his reality even,” Keith added which had James’ brow rising in question. “It was formed from uh a comet but not a normal one it was trans-dimensional,” Keith struggled to explain as he realized he didn’t feel comfortable going into the complex details of Voltron, he barely understood them himself. Even if his subpar answer, James couldn’t hide the impressed look on his face even if he tried.

            “Wow I’m even more jealous now,” James confessed which had Keith tilting his head, much like a confused puppy.

            “Jealous of me? Why?”

            “You got to go into space and were chosen to save the universe,”

            “I was got thrown into a war,” Keith replied back his tone shifting into annoyance as his brow furrowed. Keith was proud to be a paladin, but the years fighting had taken their toll. He nearly died a few times and not to mention the constant pressure to succeed and lead his team to victory. In that short exchange, he was reminded of the weight he still carried on his shoulders. A heaviness he knew he’d never fully shake. James didn’t reply, able to tell he had stepped into something. Deciding it was best to backtrack, James moved to the control panel for the particular MFE. Keith had gotten caught up in his thoughts and the silence between them but as he was about to excuse himself to leave the engine of the plane started to whirl. Refocusing on James there was an unspoken question in the air.

            “Take her for a spin. I’ll launch her for you and cover if anyone asks. My way of apologizing for how shitty I was to you,”

            “We were kids and I wasn’t any better,”

            “But I said some awful things and uh - just get in the plane” James rushed out his reply. Keith stared at him for a moment longer. “Get in,” James urged once more.

            “Come with me. You can show me how to fly. It’s different than my lion, I could use the help,” Keith’s words were sincere. James wanted to laugh at the idea of Keith needing help.

            “You’ve flown alien ships. I’m sure you can manage,” James replied, staying near the control panel.

            “Come with me James,” This time when Keith asked James couldn’t help but stare. He studied his face, caught up in the violet shade of Keith’s eyes before his mind registered that Keith called him James. No one did that, it was both strange and endearing to hear it from Keith.

            “Okay,” He finally agreed and sealed his choice by pressing the automatic launch.

            Strange as it was to be in the passenger seat, James settled in quickly. After all, Keith was technically the best pilot, after Shiro. Buckling himself in he watched as Keith pressed each button at the right moment before grabbing the controls. ‘ _He doesn’t need me’_ Came an intruding thought but as it crossed his mind he watched Keith’s hand twitch on the controls. James wasn’t sure if he was waiting on something or what. Just as he was opening his mouth to say something Keith launched up and out of the open hanger. Caught off guard by the sudden lift off James fought the urge to close his eyes. Keith was a natural, flying away from the base and toward the desert. Weaving in and out of various rock formations like it was nothing, Keith shot upward and into a loop. James felt his stomach twist but embraced the feeling, it was his favorite part of flying. With another two loops and some impressive maneuvering, Keith brought the plane to a comfortable cruising level.

            “So, what do you think?” Up until that moment the flight had been silent.

            “Huh, oh uh, it really nice. Smooth movements and pretty fast.” Having been so engrossed in the flying that was all Keith could manage.

            “Better than those clunky sim-ships,” James mused, as he relaxed back into the seat. His attention divided between the desert outside and the almost peaceful look on Keith’s face.

            “Yeah those were the worst,” James chuckled when Keith agreed, it was a well deserved light-hearted moment.

            “I’ll never forget the day you beat everyone in grade school on the sim, I couldn't even get past level 3”

            “It’s a lot worse out there. Almost everything is out to kill you,” Keith muttered back but the moment those words left his lips he knew he killed the light mood. Unsure how to get it back, Keith kept quiet. James let the silence grow, unsure himself how to bring back the laughter they shared just a moment ago. At first, it was awkward but the longer it drew on the more natural it felt. James had an idea of where Keith was coming from. He had been slowly pushed into the war with support from his family the Garrison, Keith the total opposite. James had no advice to offer.

            A few more minutes of casual maneuvers and sharp dives went by before Keith broke the silence.

            “Would you like to ride in the Black Lion?” She won’t let you pilot her, but you can still sit in the cockpit,” It was clear by Keith’s tone that he had been thinking about it for the past few minutes.

            “I’d really like that! Would be nice to see the difference,” James mused catching a glimpse of a small smile in Keith’s reflection.

            “Tomorrow then, Noon,” Keith told him before shifting the plane back toward the base. “How fast can she go?”         

            “Fastest we clocked her was Mach 15” James answered, confused slightly by the shift in conversation.

            “Let’s test that,” Keith words sounded like they left his mouth and were followed by a smirk. James’ eyes went wide as Keith flipped everything to full and pushed the plane up to Mach 10 with ease. He kept pushing the speed and once the plane reached 15.5, together they had a small celebration.

            Overshooting the base once, Keith brought it down to land with expert skill. Almost like he had been flying the plane for years. Returning her to be recharged, both pilots exited the plane and stood across from each other.

            “So, noon tomorrow,”

            “Yeah,” Keith confirmed.

            “See you then,”

            “See ya,” They parted toward their dorms. Cosmo appearing in a crack of energy at Keith’s side. Carding his fingers into the wolf’s fur he let him transport him into his dorm. Once there he settled onto his couch, it was then he realized he had been smiling the entire time.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!  
> This will be apart of a collection titled. "A Different Flight Pattern"  
> \- some additions will be nsfw but skippable. 
> 
> Kukos and comments keep me writing!  
> Find me on my main blog http://hellionwolf.tumblr.com/  
> Find me at my sideblog http://writingsonhellswalls.tumblr.com/  
> You can send prompts to the sideblog, I'm a multi-shipper


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